Canada Border Services Agency
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; French: Agence des services frontaliers du Canada, ASFC) is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and customs services in Canada.
| Canada Border Services Agency Agence des services frontaliers du Canada | |
|---|---|
Shoulder flash of the CBSA | |
Badge of the CBSA | |
CBSA coat of arms | |
Flag of the CBSA | |
| Common name | Border Services |
| Abbreviation | CBSA (French: ASFC) |
| Motto | Protectio Servitium Integritas (Latin for "Protection, Service, Integrity") |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 12 December 2003 |
| Preceding agencies |
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| Employees | 15,441 |
| Annual budget | CA$2.2 billion |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Federal agency | Canada |
| Operations jurisdiction | Canada |
| Governing body | Public Safety Canada |
| Constituting instruments | |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Ottawa, Ontario |
| Elected officers responsible |
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| Agency executive |
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| Regions | 8
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| Website | |
| www | |
The CBSA is responsible to Parliament through the minister of public safety, democratic institutions and intergovernmental affairs, currently Dominic Leblanc, and is under the direction of the president of the Canada Border Services Agency, Erin O’Gorman.
The Agency was created on 12 December 2003, by an order-in-council that amalgamated the customs function of the now-defunct Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, the enforcement function of Citizenship and Immigration Canada (now known as Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada), and the port-of-entry examination function of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA). The CBSA's creation was formalized by the Canada Border Services Agency Act, which received Royal Assent on 3 November 2005.
The CBSA oversees approximately 1,200 service locations across Canada, and 39 in other countries. It employs over 14,000 public servants and offers 24-hour service at 117 of its land border crossings and at 10 of the 13 international airports it serves. It works closely with Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada to enforce immigration laws by facilitating the removal of inadmissible individuals from the country and assisting local police in the investigation of violations of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act.
CBSA's Inland Enforcement branch tracks down and removes foreign nationals who are in Canada illegally.
The Agency oversees operations at three major sea ports and three CBSA mail centres (CMC), and operates detention facilities, known as immigration holding centres (IHC), in Laval, Quebec; Toronto, Ontario; and Surrey, British Columbia.